Dixit Patricius lectoribus suis...

After the last two days of near-constant whinging and much unneeded stress, I spent today resting and didn't go to University, which is a shame since Thursday means Latin and Latin means civilisation and art and Liturgy, which is the beautifully harmonious mingling of all classical and theological and aesthetic graces. I spent the day reading by the grey shores of Middle-earth (that is to say, on my bed!) doing translations of St John's Gospel and reading wonderful books. I wish my Bachelor's degree were over by now though, and I had my Masters, and I were truly at leisure to do these things...

I was taught to read Latin, which means that when I see Latin (in a Missal for example) it is easy enough to read. However, if the Missal is removed and I am asked to compose Latin, my mind goes blank. I wonder whether this is the correct way of going about the earnest study of a language. I would that, like Tolkien or Wilde, I knew Latin (and Greek) so thoroughly...until then, I am rather stuck. I find it rather worrying, especially since I would like to make Latin my profession.

The above painting is by John Howe and depicts the Grey Havens. I like the colour grey, and it crops up in Tolkien quite a lot and in different senses - most famously, Gandalf the Grey (which signifies merely the colour of his raiment), the Grey Havens, the Ered Lithui (mountains as grey as ash, seen by Frodo and Sam as threatening sentinels or pillars of broken teeth on the edge of sight from the Emyn Muil and the Marshes), Círdan the Shipwright refers to ''these grey shores,'' which probably means refers to their fading or age, when speaking of Middle-earth, the grey rain curtain of this world rolls back and all that...nice. The day here has been wet, miserable and overcast, with the clouds as a great dull mournful canopy blocking both sun and light; but there are consolatory qualities in miserable weather, especially English wintertide weather. I expect it behoves us to accept the good with the bad; there'd be no green grass or orchards or forests or flowers without rain...oh please, I am commenting on the weather! Now to get my dinner and amble off to Benediction...